The modern laboratory contains a variety of instrumentation for the analysis and processing of laboratory samples. The area of DNA technology often involves the use of several such instruments, a thermal cycler for the amplification of DNA or a sample heating or cooling chamber being only a few examples. Increasingly these devices are being incorporated as components in high-throughput machines, which are often operated unattended and in a completely automated fashion.
Laboratory instruments such as thermal cyclers or heating or cooling chambers have a manually operated lid that is closed down securely over a DNA sample container to prevent evaporation of samples. While these manually operated lids function well in applications where there is an operator present, they are not compatible with automated devices and do not meet the specific demand requirements of automated devices.
There are currently commercially available these types of instruments that have an automated lid. The automated lid has a simple hinge that is operated by a small motor and rotates about the hinge on the back edge. The motor is commanded to operate by software and the instrument is large enough to accommodate the space necessary for a hinged lid.
There remains a need in the art for a sample container lid that can meet the specific requirements of automated instrumentation. The lid should be able to be operated in an automated fashion and suitable for the limited space requirements of instruments of compact design. These space requirements stem from the instruments often having very limited space in the vertical direction and thus not accommodating a hinged lid.